


dreaming, dreamer

by ewagan



Series: SASO 2017 Fills [16]
Category: Free!
Genre: Dreams, M/M, Reincarnation, vague TRC au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 21:19:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11722770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewagan/pseuds/ewagan
Summary: Haru dreams. Some nights he dreams of cherry blossoms, of promises, of laughter.





	dreaming, dreamer

**Author's Note:**

> [prompt here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/24808.html?thread=15287272#cmt15287272)

Haru dreams. Some nights he dreams of cherry blossoms, of promises, of laughter. He wakes up and there’s a single cherry blossom petal in his hand, even though it’s now autumn, almost winter. The cherry blossoms have long faded away, the same way parts of Haru had wilted in the face of this lifetime’s realities.

He places it with the rest, an ever growing collection of cherry blossom petals that do not fade, do not wilt, a memory of someone who is not here anymore. The trees have shed their leaves and they reach for the sky with stark branches, and Haru knows that winter is coming, with it memories of cold tile and an empty pool, the feeling of sinking, sinking. There are other memories too, older and deeper, of other lifetimes, other people. And Rin.

Always of Rin.

A different night, he dreams a desert oasis, an outstretched palm and a smile he misses. He wonders briefly, if he can take this Rin with him, out of dreams and into reality. Instead, he runs to the water, to Rin, to laughter, to friends. To the things he loves most, things he doesn’t know how to put into words. Things he can only dream of.

If he can only have this in dreams, well. Better than not at all.

He wakes with the taste of water on his lips, damp hands and an ache in his chest. More memory, more dreams. He wonders if they are supposed to mean something, all these dreams of Rin. He’s never wanted to be a prodigy, or a genius. He’s only ever wanted to be ordinary, but perhaps Rin had dreamed him to be something more. He’s not sure if it’s taken, or if Rin had found a part of him he hadn’t known existed. Rin had always been the one with the vision and the drive; a quest to find a sleeping king, a dream to swim in the Olympics, a determination to be more than he was. 

In every lifetime, he’d let himself be pulled in by Rin.

He dreams of the desert again. There is no oasis this time, only a lack of water and a burning thirst, one foot in front of the other, going forward, forward. It feels like a fever dream, bone deserts and sand, the sun beating down on him, fierce and relentless. There is the sharp cry of a bird and he remembers looking up, a silhouette and his hand reaching out to grasp something.

He wakes up with a feather in his palm, shimmering faintly, a deep, glossy blue that was almost black. He wonders if it meant something, in another lifetime. He wonders if it means that Rin is coming back to him again, the way they always find each other.

He puts it away, nestled with cherry blossoms, and he waits.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments appreciated!
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ewagan)!


End file.
